In Brazil, they use ethanol and petrol to power their cars. How is the ethanol made?

Question

And Could we use this method in Britain?

Answer 1

Ethanol is made by turning sugar into alcohol. That is done by using a bacteria.

In Brazil, ethanol is dirt cheap. That is because they use sugar cane.

In the USA we make ethanol from corn, which has little sugar. This makes very expensive ethanol.

The best method would be to make ethanol from waste. This is cellulostic ethanol. Research is being done on cellulostic ethanol. It could be made from yard waste, used paper, trees, or any other plant material.

And yes, this all could be done in Britain.

Answer 2

Ethanol is produced when Yeast respires Sugar via Anaerobic Respiration

Answer 3

With climate change it may be possible to grow sugar cane as they do in Brazil.  Ethanol is alcohol. It is made by fermentation and is then distilled to the point there is no water left in it.  The same process makes vodka and whiskey, but is carried several stages further to get ethanol.  Any crop with a high starch or sugar content will work.  Sorghum or sugar beets are two possibilities.

Both are more labour intensive for the amount of sugar produced and production of sugar from these crops dropped since 1900.  New mechanical harvesting machinery and robotics may make these crops economically viable, especially as they can be grown in cooler climates.  

Yoshi - is ignorant. One bushel of corn produces 2.5 gal [approx.] of ethanol and one acre can produce many hundred bushels of corn.  He listens to the ignorant Left.  City people.

Irish Mafia and Wolf Harper - both wrong about the cost since the heat for distillation can be made by using corn waste, solar, coal or natural gas.  Oil has to be distilled too, using oil for heating and that costs too.

rustoria - a rusty minded Bush-hater,  probably a Transnational Progressive [the new Left] follower.  They screamed for renewable fuels and cheered the ethanol development.  Conveniently forgets that it was during the Democratic Carter administration in 1978 that the push for gasohol began.  Now they are so [crocodile tears] concerned that it will cause all those excess people they want to be rid of by abortion to die from starvation.

Answer 4

You could, but ethanol takes a lot of energy to make because it is distilled.   Biodiesel based on vegetable oil makes a lot more sense.

Brazil uses ethanol because they have lots of rainforest to cut down to turn into farmland (not very environmental to cut down rainforest!)  

The USA uses ethanol because we have a politically strong agriculture lobby and a government that's pro-business.

Answer 5

sugar cane which is much more efficient to extract than form corn which is horribly inefficient.

Answer 6

I understand it's from sugar cane, which we'd have great difficulty growing in this country. Plus it takes a huge amount and we haven't the room.  However, while biofuel isn't going to be the entire answer, I suppose every little helps . . .

Answer 7

mostly from sugar cane.

Answer 8

By fermination of sugar cane.

Answer 9

From acres and acres of corn or sugar cane, the US gets one measely gallon of ethanol. This doesn't seem to be the answer to our energy problem. Besides, we need that acreage for food the food supply. I suspect the US is in this as result of farmer's lobbyists influencing congressmen.

Find another alternate form of energy.

Answer 10

From fermentation of sugar cane.

Sugar cane can be grown on a massive scale in the southern US, but the agri lobby went for corn since it can be grown anywhere. The oil companies backed it because growing corn requires massive amount of fertilizer which is made from oil.

The move to use ethanol from corn to displace gasoline is a huge disaster in the making. Not nearly as efficient and drives up the price of basic food products. Millions of people are being placed in danger of starving because of another nonsensical policy of the Bush administration.

Answer 11

litre per litre the impact on the envioroment is far greater

than oil based fuels . yes they are cleaner but the impact and cost of  transportation far out way the benefits of using this fuel  poor farmers are the scape goat in this the  impact on there own land is massive